


lies & half-truths

by orphan_account



Category: Love Live! School Idol Project
Genre: Crime AU, Drama, F/F, Mystery, mafia!a-rise
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-11-17
Updated: 2017-01-15
Packaged: 2018-08-31 12:04:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 2,998
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8577880
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Honoka knows that her girlfriend is hiding something from her, she's just not sure what it is.(Rewritten from a previous story; rated T for mild violence/blood and swearing)





	1. Chapter 1

The only sound in the streets was the pitter-patter of the rain hitting the pavement. It was a cold and moonless night, and Tsubasa Kira was just another shadow.

She silently walked into the alleyway, speaking in hushed tones.

"Did you bring me what I asked?"

The other woman wordlessly produced a metal case. It glinted in the greasy light.

Kira clicked it open and inspected the bills. She picked up a stack and examined it from every angle.

"Thank you."

The woman locked the case.

"However, these bills are obvious counterfeits. Do you think this was worth my time?"

"N-no..."

"I _hate_ when people waste my time."

\---

Kousaka Honoka was walking back from the drugstore. She lived nearby, and had bought some lozenges and cold medicine. Her little sister, Yukiho, was visiting for the week, and she had been feeling under the weather.

She shivered and turned up the volume on her headphones, humming along with the music. It was a catchy tune, but she couldn't remember its name. The first word was _snow_ , and she knew that the second word started with an _h_...

A loud bang came from an alleyway, and for a second Honoka thought that she saw two figures silhouetted in the yellow light. She shrugged it off and simply walked a little faster, hoisting her umbrella a little higher.

Unlocking the door to the apartment, she set her plastic bag down. Yukiho was relaxing on the floor with her laptop, her legs tucked comfortably under a heated table.

"Honoka! Thanks for the medicine."

"No problem, baby sister," she said, affectionately rustling her hair.

"Hey, uh, did you hear a gunshot? It was just a few minutes ago, I think."

"Come to think of it, I did hear something loud. But my music was turned all the way up. Sorry."

"No no, that's fine. I just wanted to know if you heard it too."

"I see. Well, goodnight, Yukiho. I'm going to bed."

"See ya. Don't get shot, okay?"

Honoka chuckled. "Sure. I'll try not to."

\---

In the yellow light of an alleyway, a woman lay still in a spreading pool of blood, a metal case strewn just out of her reach. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you for reading! sorry this chapter is really short, it's more of a prologue for the rest of the story.
> 
> i would really appreciate any feedback or criticism!


	2. Chapter 2

Umi was used to going to the shitty coffee shop by the train station. It was part of her routine at this point. She went out of habit, even though the coffee was usually gross and they didn't actually have anything else. She theorized that she and Kotori were basically the sole patrons of the shop.

Honoka didn't have enough discipline. She was _weak_ and just went to the Starbucks near the office. It was a matter of principle.

As usual, Umi paid two dollars for the medium-sized ( _not_ grande) coffee. As usual, she gagged on it while waiting for the train. As usual, Kotori appeared at the station with her own disgusting coffee, and Umi's magically tasted a little more bearable.

Wait. Honoka wasn't there?

That was _not_ usual.

Immediately, Umi jumped to the worst conclusions. She had heard of a mob in the area—

She felt a reassuring hand on her shoulder and turned around. Kotori. Had she been that noticeable?

"Relax, Umi-chan. Honoka-chan's probably just late."

Now that she thought about it, Honoka was late pretty often. She smiled.

"Th-thanks, Kotori-chan. After the—you know—I just have the tendency to worry too much, even when it's not logical. You always know what to say."

Kotori was a behavioral analyst working with the team. Her empathetic nature made it easy for her to connect to just about anyone.

"Mm, no problem. I'm always happy to help you out."

Was it just her, or did Kotori's smile seem just a bit forced this time?

\---

Tsubasa Kira was standing in the godawful line at Starbucks when she saw the cutest girl she had ever laid eyes on.

Her hair was a sort of strawberry blond, and it was styled a little oddly, but the pulled it off. Her figure was soft, curvy, and a little chubby.

And looking at her eyes was like looking into the sky on a summer day.

Toudou Erena, her friend who had dragged her there, turned to her. "Aww, how cute, Kira-chan! Your first crush."

Kira smacked her arm, blushing. "Sh…shut up."

Erena grinned. "That one is a police officer. A little higher up, by the looks of it. I don't know, though, the great Tsubasa Kira might be able to handle things us mere mortals can't."

"Ugh, whatever. It's my first time here, so naturally I would be checking out the regulars."

"You were checking her out, alright. It was super obvious. I bet even _she_ noticed."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"I'll forgive you 'cause it's your first time here, but Jesus Christ. She's, like, half dog or something. She's clumsy as hell, always buys tons of pastries and slobbers all over them. And I've never seen her _not_ smile! What's up with that?!"

"Relax, Erena-san. You seem to be pretty focused on her, for someone you barely know."

"What's that supposed to mean?!"

The two bickered all the way through the line.


	3. Chapter 3

Honoka pretended to pore over case files, occassionally squinting at the text or grunting to look like she was working.

"Honoka- _san_." Umi loomed over her, and Honoka held the documents a little closer.

"...Yeeeees?"

Umi leaned in closer, and Honoka held the files up like a shield, trembling slightly.

"You're holding those upside down."

"EEEEEEH?!"

Honoka fell backwards and would have tipped over in her seat if not for Kotori.

"Now, now, Umi-chan!" Kotori gave her a soft smile and Umi's heart beat imperceptibly faster. "Don't be so strict on Honoka-chan here! We all need a break sometimes!"

Umi narrowed her eyes. "She got here ten minutes ago."

Kotori's smile faltered.

"W-well then, uh—"

Eli stepped into the conference room quietly, unamused. "Could everybody come into the meeting room? We have a new case."

\---

Nozomi's usual gentle, knowing smile was replaced by a grim expression as she flashed through the gory images on the screen.

"Takamagahara Mutsuki, 23 years old. Head of Takamagahara Labs, an up-and-coming tech company that focuses on creating new innovations."

She pressed on the clicker and the image changed to one of a young woman with blue-gray eyes and brown hair tied into two ponytails. Her grin was slightly manic, and in the picture she was wearing a lab coat and bow tie.

"She started it when she was just 15, right? I remember that her first patent was for a motorized inner tube. It was really big for a few years."

"That's right, Elicchi." Nozomi picked up her clicker and switched to a picture of the same woman, lying in a pool of blood. "She was killed late last night. Single gunshot wound to the abdomen."

"Why are we working this case? Shouldn't the local station have this responsibility?" Nico asked.

"Nope. What makes this case special is what was found beside her body."

 _Click._ A picture of a metal briefcase.

"This briefcase was filled with counterfeit bills. The total amount would have been ¥55524000."

Nico whistled.

"Yep. And it can be tied to at least five other crimes comitted in the same area."

Nozomi clicked to a picture of a bloodstained golden pin. The design was a simple English letter A.

"May I?" Maki went to the front of the room. "We found these pins at five other crime scenes, the ones that Nozomi mentioned that were in the same area. All of the bodies had at least one gunshot wound."

Maki was a forensic pathologist, and the head of the lab that the police force worked with. She was usually at the crime scenes of murder cases, and had access to the autopsy reports of each victim.

Nico piped up. "Besides being in the same area, what ties the victims together?"

"That's the problem," sighed Nozomi. "There are no apparent ties between the victims besides the proximity and the signature. All different ages, genders, and socioeconomic statuses."

"Great!" said Nico, throwing her hands in the air. "So we basically have no leads besides a dumb pin."

Nobody else said anything, but it was obvious that they all felt the same way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you so much for reading !


	4. Chapter 4

Honoka waited at the train station alone, waiting for Umi and Kotori to catch up. She checked her phone to pass the time. It was 7:54 AM.

"I just don't see," she said, "how you can willingly drink that stuff!"

Umi sighed loftily, closing her eyes and turning up her nose. " _You_ wouldn't understand."

"Now, now, children, let's not fight!"

The trio turned around in unison. "Nozomi?"

"That's my name, last time I checked."

Umi made an exasperated noise. "What are you doing here, Nozomi-san?"

Nozomi smiled. "I was buying some sweets for Eli-chan. Our anniversary is coming up, you know!"

Umi cocked an eyebrow. "Buying sweets now? Right before work?"

Nozomi's smile grew aggressive. "Yes. Is there a problem, Umi-chan?" Her voice was almost too sweet.

"A-ah, never mind, then. No problem."

Nozomi walked to stand with them, quietly observing the people at the station. A woman walking on the other side caught her eye. She wore a white dress with an olive green camouflage jacket, her long black hair tied into a ponytail. She seemed to be in a hurry. In one hand, she held a metal briefcase.

The woman briefly stopped to check her watch, but before Nozomi could observe her more, the train had arrived.

\---

Umi had just finished filing away some older cases when Eli entered the records room, her face pale.

"Umi, could you come to the conference room? We, uh, have an update."

Today, Nico stood at the front of the room, her usually pressed, stylish clothes rumpled.

"Now that everyone's here, let's talk."

Nico narrowed her eyes at her audience, a set scowl on her face.

"One of you idiots just _had_ to report this case to the media! Now my ass is in hot water, 'cause I've got to fix it!" Her accusatory glare swept across the room. 

As the PR and media liaison to the team, Nico usually had to control when and if cases were reported to the media. Based on the culprit, it could make or break a case.

Maki piped up. "As much as I hate to agree with Nico, this is pretty bad. We don't know anything about the killer. The added pressure could begin a devolution. If it's gang-related, it might motivate them to take out whoever's on to them. Meaning...us."

A grim silence settled on the conference room as Nico violently clicked through various headlines. "This has become a case with national attention. We haven't had many serial killers or mob-related murders in a while, so everyone's lapping it up."

Honoka recalled seeing something about it on the early morning news, but she wasn't too worried about it. After all, wasn't the main goal to catch the killer.

Nevertheless, the meeting tired her out, so on her lunch break she decided to go to the Starbucks. Maybe the cute girl she had seen there yesterday would be there too...

\---

Yuuki Anju sipped on her pumpkin spice latte, holding the red cup delicately in a manicured hand. She looked amused.

"Well, Toudou-chan, it's fun hearing about Tsubbie's li'l crush. But for now, I'd like to hear more about how you guys finally got the money...?" She trailed off, eyes inquisitive.

Tsubasa, not having fully recovered from being called "Tsubbie", narrowed her eyes and stared resolutely at her caramel macchiato to avoid slapping her so-called friends. "That was all me. With a little intimidation, I was able to get Hyoudou to give me the goods. Annoying piece of shit, but it worked out."

"Mm-hmm, we all heard about your _intimidation_ on the early morning news." Erena slurped her triple red-eye espresso (mixed with a full can of Monster) loudly to annoy Tsubasa. "Gunshot wound to the abomen, huh? Surprised someone like that had the patience to bleed out nicely for you."

"Eh. Not much she could do in a dark alley late at night, with nobody around to hear it." Tsubasa tried to exude a cool air of indifference, even though she found the slurping ungodly.

Erena took note of the vein pulsing in her forehead and grinned, slurping even louder but not quite drawing the attention of the barista, who blushed at a manga behind the empty counter. "Good point, _Tsubbie-tan_."

"E-excuse me." Tsubasa rushed out of the Starbucks, walking as fast as humanly possible...

...and straight into Honoka.


	5. Chapter 5

Honoka panicked. She had wanted to see that girl again, but _not like this_! First meetings weren't supposed to be like this ~~except for in her 500k coffeeshop AU slowburn fanfics~~!

Honoka's eyes met the girl's. They were a startling shade of emerald green, and were currently wide open in panic. She could get lost in those eyes forever...

And then she shrieked, just noticing the piping hot coffee spilled all over the front of her white blouse.

"I—I'm so sorry—"

 _No! Don't let her take the blame! Ingratiate yourself to make up for the awkward meeting!_ Honoka's brain barked orders as she went into survival mode.

"D-don't worry about it, haha!" she babbled. "It's fine really, happens all the time—"

Honoka stumbled into the shop, numbly wiping her ruined shirt with napkins as Tsubasa hovered over her, trying to help. The barista had looked up momentarily at the shriek, but had already gone back to her reading material, apparently finding that the situation was some semblance of "under control". Erena and Anju giggled from the sidelines, watching intently as Kira offered Honoka her jacket.

At this point, Honoka was shaking. _Our relationship is progressing so fast...!_ cried her inner voice, which was immediately silenced.

"I'm really sorry about that," said Tsubasa once it was all said and done. "C-could I get you something to make up for this?"

"Your number would be nice." Honoka barely heard the words come out of her own mouth. She felt as though she was looking down on herself making a terrible mistake.

The moment seemed to last for hours. Erena had spit her drink onto Anju's dress, Anju ignored this in favor of staring at the scene, and even the barista couldn't tear her eyes away.

"I-I mean! I'm sorry, I don't know what came over me—it's okay if you don't want to, I—"

"No, th-that would be great! Just unexpected, ah..." Kira grabbed a pen from her purse, trying to look calm and collected as a bead of sweat rolled down her neck. "I—here you go!" she blurted out, presenting the slip of paper to Honoka in an almost ceremonial gesture.

Meanwhile, Anju and Erena giggled uncontrollably at the scene of horror unfolding before them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm sorry i haven't updated in ages guys omg,,,  
> but here you go! a super short chapter with your favorite nerds. it was physically painful to write this awkwardness  
> merry christmas, happy hanukkah, and wonderful holidays to everyone! ♡ and as always, thanks for reading !


	6. Chapter 6

Honoka yawned. Stretching, she opened a single eye, only to be blinded by the sunlight rippling over her Hello Kitty comforter.

"Shit! I'm late!"

Half an hour later, a very rumpled Honoka ran through the glass doors of the office, coffee in hand. Umi raised one perfect eyebrow. "Glad you could make it, Honoka. Thanks _so_ much for gracing us all with your presence."

Honoka held her head in shame, but before she could say anything, Umi shoved her down the hall, parking her in front of the door to the conference room. "Now get in there! This is important."

"Well, well, well," snarked Nico as she rushed into the room. "Look who decided to finally show up."

"Stop bullying her, Nico, and continue." Nozomi smiled gently at Honoka and patted an empty seat next to her and Eli.

As Honoka sat down, Nico cleared her throat. "As I was saying, a new body has been discovered. Normally, we would not be looking at this case, but if the crime scene is any indication the Bobby Pin Killer has struck again."

"The Bobby Pin Killer? That's what we're calling him now?" Maki smirked leaning back in her seat. "They're not even bobby pins, though—"

"Yeah, I know, they're 'brooches' or whatever the hell you call 'em. Okay, but can I just say that 'the Brooch Killer' sounds way dumber than 'the Bobby Pin Killer'?" Nico put forth her incredibly valuable opinion.

"They sound equally stupid..." a confused Kotori whispered under her breath. Apparently, she had just picked up on the conversation, a legal pad in front of her filled with doodles of cute birds in human outfits and hyperrealistic corpses. Kotori was usually sweet and innocent as could be, but she did get a bit odd after poring over case files for many sleepless nights.

"Enough!" Eli intervened sternly, as she often had to, grabbing Kotori's notepad. "Let's get back on topic, okay? And Kotori, no more dead bodies or we're getting you a therapist." Eli pored over Kotori's doodles, a grim look on her face.

"But I aaaaam a therapist." Kotori pawed for her notebook back before yawning and resting her head on the desk. 

Eli shook her head, muttering something ominous in Russian. "Okay, Nico, please get on with this."

"Alright, uhhh...victim is Sergeant Hyoudou...Sayuri. 24 years old, impressive. Worked with Takamagahara Labs at time of death, and get this—withdrawed ¥55524000 in cash from her bank account at, um, 7:47 AM yesterday."

"Time of death?" asked Nozomi uneasily. The woman looked...familiar, she just couldn't place how.

"Let's see..." Maki shuffled through papers, extracting the autopsy report. "8:09 AM. So around the time you guys would wait for the train. And actually, she was last seen at Honoka, Umi, and Kotori's train station." Nico flashed to the accompanying image of a woman with her hair tied into a ponytail. It was hard to make out, but she was wearing a crisp white dress with an olive green jacket.

Nozomi's face paled. "I...I think I saw her right before she died."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the plot thickens! as always, thanks for reading!!!


End file.
